Clacking sound when turning at low speed
 

Car: 1994 honda civic dx coupe

I'm not really car saavy but here goes - it's been a while now but when I turn the steering wheel fully and accelerate from rest, I notice a slight clanking sound near the front wheels. It's mainly my front right wheel and I'm not sure what to do about it. One of my friends mentioned something about a boot but I don't know what it is. Does anyone have any ideas and will this be a costly repair?

Thanks!

The sound you describe usually indicates a bad axle. The noise is caused by a bad axle CV joint, which is covered with a rubber boot. The car has two axles, and each has two boots, an inner and outer. The outer boot of an axle is shown in the diagram below. A ruptured boot is a sure sign that the axle needs to be replaced, although the boot also can be intact on a bad axle. You can purchase a new axle for about $70 at an auto parts store, if you can install it yourself. Otherwise, you may pay a mechanic a few hundred bucks to do the job.

Attachment 24490

+1 on the axle

ya pull the front wheels off and just inspect those outter boots. most likely it will be poped like a ballon and grease everywhere around that area! :( i know mine is right now... im gonna replace mine tomorow after my check shows in the bank. mines starting to click slightly i think.... and i knew the boot was busted when i bought it so ive been pushing the repair back more and more....

yes but not all the time when they start clicking do they leak. Sometimes when they click, when you look under the car at them and visibly look ok.

ya some people replace teh boots and repack the joints to save some cash.

on my 94 i know i damaged one axle when i removed the motor/tranny from it since it had alot of movement in the joint so i just replaced it.
just grease up the axle ends before installing the new ones so they slide in easier and lock... when they are dry they can be a PITA to push in!

RonJ...you did it again my friend.

Thanks everyone for the responses! I guess it is agreed it is the axel/boot. *sigh* time to find a mechanic...

I agree. Once you hear noise from the joint, the joint is bad. It is too late to repack it. Replace the whole axle assembly.

its the cv joint had the same problem years ago when i was a neewb